VON Canada Homecare Workers Vote Overwhelmingly in Favour of New Contract

London, ON—Homecare workers employed by VON Canada in London, Ontario, voted 97 percent in favour of ratifying a two-year collective agreement providing them with long overdue wage increases and other improvements.

The 90 homecare workers are represented by Southwestern Ontario Healthcare and Service Workers Union, CLAC Local 303. The union was certified by the Ontario Labour Relations Board to represent the employees in April 2017.

The new contract provides employees with three percent wage increases as of April 1, 2023, and April 1, 2024. The $3 per hour permanent wage enhancement will be incorporated into the wage schedule prior to the three percent wage increase on April 1, 2023. Employees will also receive a three percent lump sum retroactive payment. In addition, the contract includes 20 cents per hour increases to the weekend and night-shift premiums and a new $20 per hour on-call standby premium. Employees will also see improvements to mileage compensation.

“This was an arduous round of bargaining,” says Mary Ellen Alward, CLAC representative. “But in the end, our members saw some long overdue wage increases and improvements to weekend and night-shift premiums as well as a new standby premium.

“Homecare has been left out of many of the critical monetary improvements for some time now, and we are happy that the Ontario government has increased some of the funding in this sector. This was key to getting our members some good monetary gains this round of bargaining.”